Interview With Chad At Ink Spot West In Greenbrook NJ
Chad at Ink Spot West has done tattoos since 2009. He attended the Art Institute of Philadelphia for industrial design, and apprenticed under Steve Ferguson, the owner of Ink Spot. His personal favorite tattoos are traditional American with black shading. He says he favors American tattoos because it is the classic look that he grew up with. Also, he says, the bold lines and simple shading and color make the tattoo heal predictably and last decades. He says he also likes how black and grey tattoos have the look of an old photograph, and American stylized portraits will last much longer than hyper-realistic portraits, and will always be distinguishable.
Chad said the biggest changes that he has seen as far as needles is that very few artists make their own needles anymore, they are almost all store bought. He says although it doesn't affect his art, it has made the industry more reliable, and the process simpler. He says today, coil machines are still the primarily used machine, but every year more people are using rotary machines for shading and coloring, because of how light they are. He says he would only use a rotary machine for shading because the hit isn't hard enough to use as lining, and the customization of coil machines outweighs the negatives, like weight and noise. He says some companies are starting to try to put batteries in the actual machine to make them wireless, but due to the added weight, they can only be put on rotary machines.
About ink, he says that the biggest change he has seen is that the use of powder inks has almost completely disappeared. Artists used to buy ink in powder form and then mix it with a carrier of their choice to get the exact consistency that they desire. Today, because of the wide range of pre-mixed inks that already have various consistencies for various purposes, the practice has died. As far as the ink affecting his art, he sees a lot of similarities to painting with the ability to mix different colors to get the perfect tone. A problem he sees with ink today is white ink fades quickly and can even turn grey with time, but it still is a viable way to make highlights, since this unfortunate aging affect is relatively rare.
Chad said that other technological changes outside of tattooing have changed the industry too. The biggest is that the internet makes all forms of art and tattoos available everywhere and websites like Pinterest have taken away some of the design component from the tattoo artist. Photoshop is also available now to design tattoos, so hand drawn designs aren't the only option anymore. The same stencil machine has been used for many years but new laser printing will make carbon stencils able to be much more intricate.
Credit to Chad of Ink Spot West
Chad said the biggest changes that he has seen as far as needles is that very few artists make their own needles anymore, they are almost all store bought. He says although it doesn't affect his art, it has made the industry more reliable, and the process simpler. He says today, coil machines are still the primarily used machine, but every year more people are using rotary machines for shading and coloring, because of how light they are. He says he would only use a rotary machine for shading because the hit isn't hard enough to use as lining, and the customization of coil machines outweighs the negatives, like weight and noise. He says some companies are starting to try to put batteries in the actual machine to make them wireless, but due to the added weight, they can only be put on rotary machines.
About ink, he says that the biggest change he has seen is that the use of powder inks has almost completely disappeared. Artists used to buy ink in powder form and then mix it with a carrier of their choice to get the exact consistency that they desire. Today, because of the wide range of pre-mixed inks that already have various consistencies for various purposes, the practice has died. As far as the ink affecting his art, he sees a lot of similarities to painting with the ability to mix different colors to get the perfect tone. A problem he sees with ink today is white ink fades quickly and can even turn grey with time, but it still is a viable way to make highlights, since this unfortunate aging affect is relatively rare.
Chad said that other technological changes outside of tattooing have changed the industry too. The biggest is that the internet makes all forms of art and tattoos available everywhere and websites like Pinterest have taken away some of the design component from the tattoo artist. Photoshop is also available now to design tattoos, so hand drawn designs aren't the only option anymore. The same stencil machine has been used for many years but new laser printing will make carbon stencils able to be much more intricate.
Credit to Chad of Ink Spot West